#Enchanted Fey Dragon

[thebaronfelidae]

Sprite Darter Hatchling! Redesign!

The Recolors!

Nether Faerie Dragon

Kal'andu

Sun Darter Hatchling

Blinky colors!

(normal, baige, red)

Mount Colors!

Enchanted Fey Dragon (normal, baige, red)

Flourishing Whimsydrake

???

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dungeon: Thousand Ends

“-and so you have sinned” said the pearl-laden emissary as the shutters crashed open and the royal court became a tumult of wind “You have trespassed my realm and plundered foreign lands, making me accessory to your slaughter”. The figure rose, throwing aside their moral guise and those assembled said it was as if the sky itself levelled an accusing finger at the sovereigns. “You sought riches, now you shall pay.”

The remnants of a great treasure fleet scuttled in an act of divine wrath, this palisade of masts and reef of broken keels has been collecting the vessels of the greedy and the wayward ever since. The locals got tired of warning folks about “the cliffs of a thousand ends”, so over time the name was worn away just as the sea has worn away at the surrounding land.

In addition to becoming a home for all manner of sealife that now nests within the shattered ships, a covey of sirens now roosts among the nearby cliffs, their songs carried by the wind to ensorcell the minds of sailors and navigators passing by and draw them off course. ( Blame @5ecardaday for the excellent monster)

Hooks:

Driven below deck by of rain while travelling from one port to another, the party have only a few days to notice that more and more of the crew are acting strangely as they fall prey to the sirens’ enchantment, becoming sluggish and uncoordinated as they each drift off into their own fantasy land. If they don’t figure it out they’ll end up crashing on the rocks and having to fight their way through the periphery of the dungeon and then to shore as the sirens pick off the sailors.

Piled high with the fruit of slave mines and plundered temples, the ships of the treasure fleet carried tribute to fuel an empire across the sea. More than just wealth, there are any number of cultural treasures up and down the coast that the party could return to their rightful owners for great renown. 

Even before they were sundered by the wrath of a seagod, there were damned souls aboard the fleet, the blunt instruments of imperial ambition all too used to bleeding people and entire nations for the sake of feeding the royal coffers. Now they haunt the depths protecting their gold from thieves, bound by greed or fanatical loyalty to a long-fallen crown. Should the party REALLY piss them off, they will band together animating the surrounding dredgewood and perusing them even back to their vessel.

Perhaps the only thing that could dissuade a group of adventurers from seeking out what might be a motherload of sunken treasure would be their inability to breathe underwater

Because this dungeon is so expansive and atypical of layout, consider using my system for running large scale dungeons with an abstract floorplan. It’ll be far easier than trying to map out dozens of vessels above and below the waterline.

[topikoji]

January Patreon Voted Print! Available on my Etsy

x

[st-just]

So doing D&D prep and I've got two different NPCs the party might choose to fight on the way to finding the Dragon Turtle's lair with the artifact they're hunting. And the need to create complete dungeons around each potential boss fight to keep the players from just brutally novaing their way through them has been surprisingly good at making me come up with, like, a supporting cast for each potential boss.

[the-gnomish-bastard]

Every species has a different way of engineering and craftsmanship. To show this, we’ll use a bike as an example.

A Gnome-made bike will be quick, efficient, and have several hidden features like inspector gadget. It will probably also have several bells, none of which make a bell-like sound.

A goblin bike will probably be made of wood, bones, and scrap. It’ll work, but not very well after the first few times. It probably has a compartment to keep cool rocks and bugs you find.

A Kobold bike is a stolen goblin’s bike, just lit on fire and somehow shittier.

An orc bike will be the most metal thing you have ever seen, figuratively and literally. The wheels are made of metal. Shit has spiked wheels. This thing will be passed down as an heirloom. Lot of spikes.

An elvish bike should not work. By no means is it structurally sound. It looks like it should collapse. They think the look is all that matters, and the only reason they get away with it is because they enchant the shit out of it. Likely made of glass and given a long and weird name.

A Dwarvish bike will have wheels of stone, a bell that somehow plays the sound of a giant war horn, and they put a molten engine in it. They made a motorcycle. It will be covered in the most intricate runes you will ever see.

A halfling bike is probably made from tied tree branches. Still works though.

Giff? It has a gun.

Mindflayer? You know that shit is covered in tentacles and it fucking teleports.

The gith don’t have bikes. They’re just riding dragons and killing the mindflayers.

Goliaths just use boulders for the wheels.

The fey are just being dicks. They don’t have bikes either, but they use the people they tricked as bikes.

Demons can’t make bikes. They just buy them.

Devils sell the bikes to the demons.

Celestials have replaced the wheels with wings.

The beholders are disintegrating everyone’s bikes because they’re angry that they don’t have legs.

The Tarrasque just really wants a tricycle.

[rs-hawk]

Master List

This will be consciously updated so check back periodically. Enjoy!

A:

Átahsaiais

Angels

Angel Boyfriend

B

Beast (Beauty and the Beast)

Big Foot

Big Foot Camping

C:

Centaur

Virgin Centaur

Centaur Ranch MtF WLW

Centaur Handjob

Crow Girlfriend

D:

Dragons

Dragon Girlfriend WLW: Part One, Part Two

Dragon Girlfriend Gold Strap WLW

My Brother's Hot Friend (now exclusively on Patreon): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

Dragon Guard

Dragon Queen MtF

Dragon Lover Nonbinary

Dwarves

Dwarf Boyfriend

Dwarf Lover

More Dwarf Boyfriend

Demons

Demon Church

Dullahans

Dullahan Boyfriend

Deathclaw

E:

Elves

Elves (Christmas)

Enchanted Armor: Part One, Part Two

F:

Fey

Fey Wife MtF

Fog Monster

G:

General Monsters

Short Monsters

Ancient Spirit

God Lover

God Husband MLM (Disabled Reader): Part One, Part Two, Short

Gorilla-Like/Missing Link Lover

Giants

Hiking Adventure (FtM Reader)

H:

House

I:

Icarus x Apollo: Part One, Short, Part Two

J

K

L:

Loveland Frog

M:

Merpeople

Siren Boyfriend

Octopus Merman

Mishipeshu: Part One

Minotaurs:

Minotaur Husband: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Minotaur Neighbor FtM

Nobleman Minotaur: Part One, Part Two

Commission: Healer in the Dungeon Male Reader): Part One, Part Two (contains additional Monsters)

N:

Nagas

Naga Husband

Naga Girlfriend

Naga Husband (FtM Reader)

Naga Wife

Nymphs

River Nymph

O:

Orcs

Orc Husband FtM

Orc Mate WLW

Orc X Saytr MLM (third person)

Orc Mate MtF

Oracle Girlfriend

P:

Piasa Bird: Part One, Part Two, Short

Q

R:

Raven Mocker

Robots

Andrew Android

S:

Slime

Straggle

Shapeshifter

T:

Tentacles:

Tentacle House

Pet Tentacle

Two or More Monsters

Vampire and Werewolf Boyfriend (Plus Size Reader)

Vampire and Dragon Girlfriends WLW

Thunderbirds

Thunderbird Lover (on hiatus): Part One

Thunderbird Partner

U

V:

Vampires

Vampire Boyfriend

Vampire Boyfriend FtM

Vampire Boyfriend (Werewolf Girlfriend Reader)

Vampire Boyfriend (Anemic Reader)

W:

Werewolves

Werewolf Girlfriend MtF WLW

Werewolf Boyfriend FtM (MtF Reader)

Werewolf vs Human Boyfriend

Winter Wolf

Bestie's Werewolf Brother (Liwanu): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six

Bestie's Werewolf Brother Alt (Ahiga): Part One, Part Two

Witches

Witch Girlfriend

Your Witch

Werehyena (Male Reader)

Writing Tips

Top Ten

Filler and Self Publishing

X

Y:

Yeti

Z

[thisisnotthenerd]

bells hells really is just the funniest collection of people, esp if we include their short term allies (pcs)

in the span of three months, they've had:

fey fiends and undead

earth wind and fire

two ruidusborn (theoretically alien influence)

two people on their second life (resurrected)

two aeormatons

two titan vessels

two bards, two sorcerers, two rogues (CHA party)

organic beacon?

ceo and founder of c-pop industries, the long-lived creator of many an enchanted chair

gun monkey and bone rat

the children of their enemy's direct lieutenants

scion and now heir of the silken squall, rider of the dragon coriolis

granddaughter of a hag, whom multiple members of the group have made deals with

delilah briarwood (in brain)

delilah briarwood (in gem)

six different second form transformations, seven if you include braius' cow face

and orym.

[transbookoftheday]

The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught

Author-artist Fern Haught weaves an enchanting, gentle fantasy tale of friendship, determination, and respecting nature in their debut graphic novel, The Baker and the Bard. Perfect for fans of The Tea Dragon Society, Legends & Lattes, and Animal Crossing.

Juniper and Hadley have a good thing going in Larkspur, spending their respective days apprenticing at a little bakery and performing at the local inn. But when a stranger makes an unusual order at the bakery, the two friends (and Hadley’s pet snake, Fern) set out on a journey to forage the magical mushrooms needed to make the requested galette pastries.

Along the way, Juniper and Hadley stumble across a mystery too compelling to ignore: Something has been coming out of the woods at night and eating the local farmers' crops, leaving only a trail of glowy goo behind. Intent on finally going on an adventure that could fuel their bardic craft, Hadley tows Juniper into the woods to investigate.

What started as a simple errand to pick mushrooms soon turns into a thrilling quest to save some furry new friends—and their caretaker, a softspoken little fey named Thistle—who are in danger of losing their home.

[ravensshire]

Free Fozy ttrpg

The fire crackles warm and the conversation turns now, as it so often does, to short tales about your encounters with the fey and dragons, but also simple poems and memories of the beauty and life within your village. Shared together with mugs of cocoa in your cottage. 

This is a Cozy RPG in which you, and possibly a group of friends, will form a collage of moments within a village surrounded by fairies by reminiscing about your life within it.

[thecreaturecodex]

Hesperid

Image © Paizo Publishing. Accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[I was not expecting Paizo to make a specific fey based on the Hesperides from Greek mythology instead of just making them nymphs, but I like it.]

Hesperid CR 9 LN Fey This humanoid woman has a radiant beauty, her hair and skin colors reminiscent of the light of a sunset. She has long pointed ears and no pupils, marking her fey nature.

The hesperids are fey creatures that guard areas of natural beauty in the mortal realm. They are tied to the setting sun, and their domains always include a good view of the sunset. Hesperids also guard other objects as well—treasures prized by the fey or druidic circles, or historical relics thought lost. These prizes are disguised as golden apples, often mixed with mere trash disguised the same way in order to thwart robbery. More powerful hesperids may guard magical artifacts. In order to defend their landscape and their treasures, hesperids will fight, using conjured sunlight like a druid wields a flame blade.

Because of their ties to the regular cycle of the planet’s orbit, hesperids have lawful minds. Other fey sometimes see them as stodgy, but also respect their reliability and even tempers. Hesperids get along well with most lawful outsiders, as well as bronze and gold dragons, and are stern opponents of forces of undeath. They recognize that darkness has its place in the cosmic order, but are most comfortable in bright lights.

Hesperid Boons and Banes (CL 13th, DC 23) The most likely boon a hesperid would give to a mortal would be a lesser treasure, typically exchanged for something more relevant to the fey, plus access to the hesperid’s healing magic. Still, some are charmed by mortal artistry, and give their blessings as patrons of the arts. Those who try to steal from a hesperid are sometimes cursed with permanent blindness.

Boon: The glow of the hesperid fills your heart. You gain a +1 sacred bonus to all saving throws, and a +4 competence bonus to all Craft and Perform checks. This bonus lasts for 1 week. Bane: You are permanently blinded. The blindness can be removed with remove blindness or a similar effect, but returns with the sunrise each day unless it is removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, wish or miracle

Hesperid        CR 9 XP 6,400 LN Medium fey Init +6; Senses low-light vision, Perception +23 Defense AC 23, touch 23, flat-footed 16(+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 deflection) hp 110 (13d6+65) Fort +8, Ref +14, Will +12 DR 10/cold iron Defensive Abilities unearthly grace; Weakness sunset dependent Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good) Melee sunset ribbon +13/+8 touch (1d10+6 plus 1d6 fire) Ranged sunset ribbon +13 touch (1d10+6 plus 1d6 fire) Spell-like Abilities CL 13th, concentration +19 (+23 casting defensively) At will—daylight, veil (DC 22, self only) 3/day—cure critical wounds (DC 20), quickened glitterdust (DC 18), searing light Statistics Str 11, Dex 22, Con 19, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 22 Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 36 Feats Alertness, Combat Casting,Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Quicken SLA (glitterdust),Toughness, Weapon Finesse Skills Acrobatics +21, Bluff +21, Climb +15, Diplomacy +21, Fly +25, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (geography, local, nature) +19, Knowledge (arcana, history) +16, Perception +23, Perform (any one) +21, Sense Motive +23, Stealth + 21 Languages Common, Sylvan, Utopian SQ golden apple Ecology Environment any coastal or hills Organization solitary or enclave (2-6) Treasure double standards Special Abilities Golden Apple (Su) As a standard action, a hesperid can transform any object of up to 10 cubic feet of material into a golden apple weighing 1 pound. This lasts until the hesperid dismisses the effect as a standard action or if the item has spent 24 hours outside of the hesperid’s bonded location. Sunset Dependent (Su) A hesperid is mystically bonded to a location that has a good view of the sunset under ideal conditions—cliffs, islands and valleys are common sites. A hesperid that leaves this area, or who is not outside when the sun sets in that area (even if she can’t see, or if weather hides the sun), takes 1d6 points of Constitution drain per day. A hesperid can bind to a new location with a 24 hour ritual. Sunset Ribbon (Su) A hesperid can conjure a ribbon of sunlight as a swift action, and dismiss it as a swift action. With this ribbon, she can make melee touch attacks as an attack action, or may snap it like a whip as a standard action to fire a ray up to 180 feet. Regardless of how the hesperid uses it to attack, the sunset ribbon deals 1d10 points of slashing damage modified by the hesperid’s Charisma modifier and 1d6 fire damage. Undead, or other creatures with negative energy affinity, take an additional 1d6 points of damage. Unearthly Grace (Su) A hesperid gains her Charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to AC and CMD.

[every-character-ever-poll]

WEEK EIGHT LINEUP

We did it! Finally. Week Seven is complete, and we can move on to greener pastures - by which I mean we can slog our way through a new 'Week'! I can't think of anything funny to say here right now so let's just get into it.

Norah Jakobs - The Nice House On The Lake

Jaehee Yoo - Let Dai

Graham Ness Payser, the Pacesetter - Toontown: Corporate Clash

Amaya - The Dragon Prince

Lottie Matthews - Yellowjackets

Clippy - Microsoft Word

Gren - The Dragon Prince

Kafuka Fuura - Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Piers - Golden Sun

Ron - The Who Was? Show

Tohru Honda - Fruits Basket

Nightcrawler - X-men

Henriette de Pusay - Les Colombes du Roi-Soleil

Monsieur Tidbits - The Who Was? Show

Hariham Harry - Hugtto Precure

Chief - Animal Crossing

Venti - Genshin Impact

Geraldine - The Who Was? Podcast

Quote - Cave Story

Bait - The Dragon Prince

Dale Gribble - King of the Hill

Drizzt Do'Urden - Dungeons and Dragons - Forgotten Realms

Clytie Van Gogh - Fate/Grand Order

Madoka - Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Boston - Only Friends: The Series

Count Olaf - A Series of Unfortunate Events

Phosphophyllite - Houseki no Kuni

Battler - Umineko When They Cry

Mona Lisa Vito - My Cousin Vinny

Medic - Team Fortress 2

Gus - Sweet Tooth

Apollo Justice - Ace Attorney

Twigleg the Homunculus - Dragon Rider

Thirteen - Obey Me!

Daisy Buchanan - The Great Gatsby

John Yossarian - Catch-22

Hikari Kuina - Alice in Borderland

Jintetsu - Kurogane

Fantine - Les Misérables

Telemain - Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Mahiru Shiina - MILGRAM

Garroth - Mystreet / Minecraft Diaries

Nami - Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons

Amethyst Heart - Magical Warrior Diamond Heart

The Amazing Karnak - Ride the Cyclone

Marvin - Falsettos

Hearthstone - Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

M.X.E.S. - Five Nights At Freddy's

Draco Malfoy - A Very Potter Musical

Zombie Cleo - Hermitcraft & Traffic Life

Henry the Duck - 36 Questions

Lazarus - Ribbon Rabbit Daycare

Jeff - Doors

Almoral - Biz Mart

Prince Blueblood - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Maya Fey - Ace Attorney

Amanda Young - Saw

Molli Pop - Candies n Curses

Deckard Cain - Diablo

Zee - Total Drama Island

Hiura Erika - The Night Beyond The Tricornered Window

Takuto Maruki - Persona 5 Royal

Emma - Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race

Perona - One Piece

Noah - Total Drama

Gin Ibushi - Your Turn to Die/Kimi ga Shine

Cody - Total Drama

Kitty - Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race

Torchic - Pokémon

Amaya - The Dragon Prince

Guido - Cars

Mecha Mountie - Death Road to Canada

Oliver - Vocaloid

Yuki Takeya - School-Live

Eric Cartman - South Park

Harold - Total Drama

K.K. Slider - Animal Crossing

Shawn - Total Drama: Pahkitew Island

Spinel - Steven Universe

Junior - Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race

Applejack - My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Fluttershy - My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Wayne & Raj - Total Drama Island 2023

Mimikyu - Pokémon

Frye - Splatoon 3

Millie - Total Drama Island 2023

Ghetsis - Pokémon

Chef Hatchet - Total Drama

Minty - My Little Pony

The Arcanist - Flight Rising

Maud Pie - My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Zell - Animal Crossing

Coco - Animal Crossing

Pearl - Splatoon 2

Big Man - Splatoon 3

Torachi - King of Prism

Bill Cipher - Gravity Falls

Sailor Venus - Sailor Moon

Kyubey - Madoka Magica

Mikan Shiratama - PriPara

Herobrine - Minecraft

[storyhaunt]

a lot of the 'shifts' and divergences from canon that occur on this blog (as well as a few focus-points in terms of traumatic experiences), in regards to eragon, revolve around one specific event - the agaetí blödhren. in general, i think there was a lot of missed and scrapped potential within the inheritance cycle, but it is the agaetí blödhren that completely changes the trajectory of the story in terms of eragon's character and how he must interact with the world and exist within it.

the agaetí blödhren, or 'the blood oath ceremony' in english, is an elven celebration that occurs every 100 years, commemorating the pact forged between elves and dragons as a means to end the long-standing dragon war (aka, du fyrn skulblaka). it was through this pact that the souls of elves and dragons were brought together as one, and it was when the elves were given their immortality, and the dragons, their magic and ability to communicate. the event itself, which occurs once every hundred years and for three days straight, is described as being so visceral and raw and dangerously intoxicating (and exceptionally unwise for non-elves to experience, as, if i remember correctly, they run the risk of being lost in the ensuing spiritual mania and snapping mentally under what is essentially an overdose of magic), as the elves chant and sing their magic for the entirety of those three days. an excerpt from eldest, the gift of dragons:

Then the elves began to sing in their clear, flutelike voices. They sang many songs, yet each was but part of a larger melody that wove an enchantment over the dreamy night, heightening senses, removing inhibitions, and burnishing the revels with fey magic. Their verses concerned heroic deeds and quests by ship and horse to forgotten lands and the sorrow of lost beauty. The throbbing music enveloped Eragon, and he felt a wild abandon take hold of him, a desire to run free of his life and dance through elven glades forever more. Beside him, Saphira hummed along with the tune, her glazed eyes lidded halfway.

What transpired afterward, Eragon was never able to adequately recall. It was as if he had a fever and faded in and out of consciousness. He could remember certain incidents with vivid clarity—bright, pungent flashes filled with merriment—but it was beyond him to reconstruct the order in which they occurred. He lost track of whether it was day or night, for no matter the time, dusk seemed to pervade the forest. Nor could he ever say if he had slumbered, or needed sleep, during the celebration.…

suffice to say, the night itself is a strange one for eragon, a wave of new and bizarre experiences. but it is less the agaetí blödhren itself that changes eragon - i will always stand by the idea that even without what happens with the dragon-tattoo, the ceremony was, in some fashion, traumatic for eragon, or at the very least a not so great time for him, and though it's definitely something he himself tells himself he has no opinion on, his experience wasn't exactly the greatest - and moreso the violation of autonomy that occurs during.

for context, for the last several months up until this point, eragon has suffered from seizures, which have gotten progressively worse and more frequent and life-threatening as the days have gone on. this is a result of being gored on the sword of durza, a shade 'employed' by galbatorix. the seizures themselves spark as a result of the extreme pain and agony that eragon's wound / scar leaves him in, as well as, in my own opinion, the metaphorical mental scarification of eragon's brain being split between two places (fighting for his own consciousness as well as being trapped in the remnants of durza's memories / mind), and the subsequent struggle to actually bring himself back fully and stay present, even if he's out of that place and belongs to himself again.

with all of that being said - during the agaetí blödhren, there is a moment where an elf's dragon tattoo separates from their body amidst the magic-song of the celebration, and it approaches eragon and touches his gedwëy ignasia, his dragon-mark. in this moment, eragon has no idea what is happening or what will happen to him; he technically can't even be classified as sober, and is, as paolini himself describes, drifting in and out of being black-out, and solidly and detrimentally disoriented. he does not know what the dragon-tattoo will do to him, and neither does anyone else present. and herein lies an odd decision on paolini's part.

when the dragon-tattoo touches eragon's gedwëy ignasia, it triggers a physiological and magical response in eragon, who immediately blacks out as a result of the searing pain that shoots all throughout him, and he is understandably terrified out of his mind as to what's happening to him. excerpt from eldest, the gift of dragons (still):

As the dragon’s baleful eye fell upon him, Eragon knew that the creature was no mere apparition but a conscious being bound and sustained by magic. Saphira and Glaedr’s humming grew ever louder until it blocked all other sound from Eragon’s ears. Above, the specter of their race looped down over the elves, brushing them with an insubstantial wing. It came to a stop before Eragon, engulfing him in an endless, whirling gaze. Bidden by some instinct, Eragon raised his right hand, his palm tingling.

In his mind echoed a voice of fire: Our gift so you may do what you must.

The dragon bent his neck and, with his snout, touched the heart of Eragon’s gedwëy ignasia. A spark jumped between them, and Eragon went rigid as incandescent heat poured through his body, consuming his insides. His vision flashed red and black, and the scar on his back burned as if branded. Fleeing to safety, he fell deep within himself, where darkness grasped him and he had not the strength to resist it.

Last, he again heard the voice of fire say, Our gift to you.

when eragon awakes an hour later, he is completely and utterly changed. when it comes to dragon-riders, due to the pact forged between elves and dragons, and the fact that it was elves who made the first bond with dragons [to create dragon-riders], as they age, human dragon-riders will slowly become more physically elven; an unavoidable thing, a result of the magic which courses through them. however, in this situation, the process has been heavily expedited, and eragon finds himself … near completely elven.

he also finds that he has no scars anymore. no seizures. he is also the pinnacle of beauty, and has been made to have alabaster skin. as it stands, while having such drastic physical changes forced upon him is a traumatic incident for eragon, it is the latter issues that i will not be fully acknowledging, mostly in part because i do not … really enjoy the way in which eragon's blemishes and disability were completely erased, and become things of the past for him. especially in the case of his disability.

the way in which paolini has a tendency to write disabilities is a very unforgiving one. those who are not abled-bodied in some way, shape, or form, are outcast, isolated, and deemed worthless, weak, and generally repulsive. now, this whole thing could have been made into a commentary on how that way of thinking is, in fact, cruel, and that particular lack of compassion and the upholding of 'perfection' and 'normality' [in regards to being able-bodied], but if i'm being entirely honest, you can really tell how old paolini was when he wrote this story when disabilities, physical and mental, are the topic of discussion, and you can definitely tell the era / year the books were written in. even more unsavory, there is the full discussion and implication of eugenics regarding those who are not able-bodied within the story, and virtually every single character seems to be entirely on board and in agreement about the worth and abilities of those who are disabled. it's not exactly the prettiest picture that gets painted, here.

to have eragon magically 'cured' of his seizures, and for the every single character and the story itself sigh a breath of relief, because eragon 'would have been useless' had he not been 'fixed' (which, if i remember correctly, 'fix' was, in fact, a word that was used when speaking about eragon and his disability). it is entirely true that continuing to deal with his seizures would be a struggle, and he would be put through the wringer, and as someone who is disabled himself, i know the feeling of 'i would do anything to not have to feel like this / go through this ever again'. but the way that paolini pretty immediately 'fixes' the problem, and the way that the the story and its cast treat eragon as though he is suddenly useless and incapable of anything after his battle with durza, is honestly more than a little uncomfortable and in extreme poor taste. the idea that life as a whole is an impossible obstacle if you cannot function 'normally', and the persistent ideology that you are weak and useless and incapable of achieving anything if you are not able-bodied is, in fact, a shitty mindset to have, and takes away a lot of the weight that could be applied to your story, were the protagonist allowed to be disabled and still be a hero.

now, the other thing that rubs me the wrong way about eragon's transformation and how he is described, is the prevalent note regarding him now having 'alabaster skin'. while eragon himself has not, up until this point, had his skin-tone described at all, something that has been common place within the writing itself for almost all characters (which, given the fact that it's only the characters of color who ever get described, we can assume that paolini intends for every other character to be white, and for us to just assume and expect that). however, and this is likely just a result of the way that i've read and interpreted the story, but regardless - despite eragon's lack of description wrt skin tone, he has always, in my mind, been brown, which in part is because … and my memory is constantly foggy and i cannot find the exact passage i'm thinking of, but i believe there have been notes made regarding brom (eragon's biological father) and the fact that he would conceal his gedwëy ignasia with mud and clay, which in and of itself does not prove that brom was brown in any way, but it's the idea that no other characters seemed to take notice of that or think anything of it (and the subsequent concept that the mud/clay might have blended relatively well with the rest of his skin). this whole point has a lot less confidence than the one above, i admit, and is more speculation and headcanoning than written-fact, but eragon suddenly being pale as snow and that being one of the identifying traits that makes him beautiful now … it does feel a little bit weird.

now, as i cannot figure out a transition to this point and want to get this post over with before i lose my mind, how i will be portraying eragon on this blog where the agaetí blödhren and his transformation are concerned:

as stated previously, eragon still has seizures. they are not as extreme as they were when he was in the height of his physical agony as a result of his wound, but he still has them from time to time, with the worst episodes typically occurring in moments of high stress as well as, predictably, moments of extreme physical pain. his particular symptoms include temporary disorientation (speaking gibberish / incoherently without realizing, saying the same thing(s) over and over for a second as if 'glitching'), zoning out (staring into space, 'not listening'; extremely brief, does not remember whatever is said / done during these little hiccups), and, less frequently, fainting / blacking out (there have, in fact, been a few instances of him 'passing out' at his desk, or having to sit down on the ground because of a 'dizzy spell'; can last a few minutes, and he usually comes to extremely disoriented and exhausted and out of it). he is still a capable and dangerous fighter, and is far from helpless. he does get frustrated with himself at times, but he is not useless by any measure of the word, and still has the full capacity for adventure and heroics.

many of his smaller and 'less important' scars were healed during his transformation, but not all of them. the scar that durza left, as well as his scars from his first flight with saphira, and the one that he gave himself when messing with garrow's scythe, still mark his body. durza's scar still hurts, but not to the intensity that it did before.

brom and eragon are brown. the transformation does not change this.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Dick Grayson with some flavor of magical SO

"Whatcha cookin'?" Dick asked, leaning on the counter and watching you grind herbs in a stone mortar.

"Dinner," you tell him, smiling a little before you lean over to kiss him hello.

"Dinner dinner or some weird love potion you're calling dinner?" he teased, brushing a sweat-dampened lock of hair off your forehead.

"You'll have to eat it and find out I suppose," you hum.

"Smells good regardless," he chuckled, shrugging out of his jacket and throwing it over the couch. How he wound up with the last living descendant of Morgan le Fey in his kitchen, he would never know. If he were feeling romantic, he'd call it destiny. But realistically, it was probably dumb luck.

Dumb Luck and dogged persistence.

"I'd hope so," you snort, "I've been cooking all day."

"Special occasion?"

"Boredom," you sigh. "The days are short so the Dragons are out en masse."

Dick made a soft sympathetic noise. A princess in your own right, exiled from your kingdom for the crime of refusing to kill in a trial by combat- trapped in a world not your own. Pressed in on all sides by iron and ignorance. In another time, long before you were born The Dragons; witch hunters, would have just been an inconvenience. But Now? Even in Gotham they were deadly. And there were always more around a solstice. He doubted you'd been outside all week. It meant meals that could rival Alfred's and a spotless apartment- but a very unhappy Sorceress.

You didn't complain, not really. But your eyes, the curious, enchanting eyes that had drawn him to you first when he noticed the way the colors shifted- had been the same dark grey of storm clouds for days- barely lightening to even the pale lavender he'd first seen.

"Maybe tomorrow I can take you to find some new fabric? Or we can go make friends with the Ravens in the park," he tried.

"Maybe," you allow. But when you don't look up from your mortar and your cooking pot, Dick knows. You'd seen them.

He'd never seen them. But. He'd seen you fight. Teeth bared. Sword in hand. A blur of magic and Fury. Facing down rogues and monsters without flinching. If it was enough to make you hide indoors, kept safe behind your wards- then it was something horrible, what they had in store for you.

[mountainashfae]

once I've moved past my current plan for the week I should definitely draw a visual for that still-unnamed dating sim joke project. Since it's not a joke anymore. But until then I should probably write down a little blurb about each character in it.

Godfrey Ainsworth. The renowned professor of biology and the effects of the divine upon it, a priest of the goddess of knowledge and the moon and an accomplished mage. An elder naga(1) philim(2) who rarely sets aside time for things other than his research or teaching, because he's too engrossed in it.

Alec Faustus. A young philim priest of the goddess of life and agriculture, seemingly far from home at the Jadena(3) magic university. Alternating personalities and a pair of mismatched eyes, haunted by some recent past he chooses not to speak on.

Reid Thomel. A human mercenary and blacksmith from the Adventurer's Guild branch in Smaragden(4) and your traveling companion to the city. Still much of a stranger to you, but a very friendly and well-connected one.

Orion. A mysterious aleph(5) from the far north who claims to be a deity on earth. They are powerful, yes, but not enough to be a god. After all, they are more than just their hands. Their white hands blessed by the goddess of winter and death. Emotionless and uninterested in others, it's up to you to make yourself worth having interest in.

Chloe Sialia. A powerful philim vampire(6) mage sating some craving for knowledge at the university despite having the knowledge to be an instructor instead. His age and power is far from the usual of his kind, seeming even more inhuman than he already is, but that humanity in him is not completely buried just yet.

Celeste Parrya. A rabbitfolk philim mage who claims to be taught by one of the god candidates themselves. She excels at time magic and would be an exemplary healer, and yet she does not pursue that path. She is simply aimless in her goals, accompanied by a man who is her entire opposite.

Mab. An Eldest of the First World of Golarion, a Queen of.... hey wait a minute that's the wrong setting! The fey queen of ice has been isekai'd, and well, she's completely unfamiliar with the world and especially its dragons. I'm sure with time she'll find a way back. Better question is how would she react to meeting the alternate universe versions of her children..?

Setting Glossary/Footnotes under cut:

(1) Naga - a person with the lower body of a serpent. An offshoot of Philim that became their own race. Name not final.

(2) Philim - a person born with the influence of a Devil. There are few overlapping traits between philim, but if enough are born from a specific devil's influence they can become a standalone offshoot.

(3) Jadena - the holy city of the goddess of knowledge and the moon and home to the largest university on the continent. It is home to many powerful mages and priests, sometimes both at the same time, and is the largest source of enchanted items.

(4) Smaragden - a city in the mountains known for its endless rainy season, theorized to be caused by a dragon. Many adventurers flock here in hopes of seeing the dragon, and to meet the three god candidates that live here.

(5) Aleph - DID YOU THINK I WAS GOING TO MAKE ELVES NORMAL? NO. Aleph are the longer lived of the pointed-ear folk. Their ears have a notable S curve and their hair and eyes shift with their emotions.

(6) Vampire - a philim offshoot that is the exception to the rule. Vampires are created either at the time of a mortal's death when the Devil of Undeath exerts his influence, or when another vampire kills a mortal with the intent to turn them. They are each defined by one of the seven deadly sins, which can be directed but the influence of that sin on each vampire cannot be ignored.

I'm not elaborating on rabbitfolk. You get it.

[dreaddoughnutart]

We had a prompt to consider our characters as if they had originated from the opposite country in our campaign- Keoland, where Neera is original from which is a well-off, conquesting kingdom with very particular views of anyone outside of humans, elves, dwarves and halflings, and Gyruff, the backwoods area Keoland likes to ignore that has a strong fey connection, communal outlook, but has a giant and dragon infestation problem. Neera originated from Keoland and was taught early on to hide and fear her fey-half, but a Gyri!Neera? Would not have any of that hesitation or fear. I have more general thoughts below the read more for anyone interested.

Gyri!Neera was left at the edge of fairy and raised by a younger satyr at the boundary so that she would have a chance to grow.

This version of Neera resents many of the elves, extending the blame past just her mother who left when she was born. Her interactions with many so far have failed to convince her that the disdain she has in unfounded.

Gyri!Neera is also driven by the pursuit of knowledge, particularly of magic and the differences between how magic is utilized by different people. Why are some innate, some require a source in a patron, and then still others require study?

Eventually she would like to stay in Fairy, but both Prince Romero and the satyr who raised her believe she should live and grow in the mortal plane first.

This version of Neera is much more outwardly confident and very comfortable in her skin, but is also not nearly as open-minded and can be defensive of her beliefs. She sees no issue with using her charms and wits to manipulate those around her if it will get her what she wants.

Gyri!Neera is very flirty and forward with her affections, and is quick to both fall in love and pursue those feelings. She unlocked her fey magic very young, but her adopted father encouraged her exploration of this magic rather than any indication she should hide or restrict this power in any way. While this was fine when younger and living only with an immortal satyr, they tend to throw their magic around without thinking of others and the effect it may have on those around them.

After discovering her love for learning, Bard!Neera enrolled in the Bard College in Gyruff, veering quickly to the College of Lore. Even if Gyruff’s own library is more limited than Keoland, not all lore is limited to writing, and Neera quickly began to learn not just from books, but from the people around them.

Gyri!Neera was shocked to learn her connection to Ehlonna, and would struggle with that connection because she associated Ehlonna so strongly with the elves. She does not fear her elven side, but instead holds disdain for her mortal half, and feels that it holds her back. And now the goddess is too.

Gyri!Neera would lean towards illusion and enchantment spells- illusory script, charm person, fairy fire and suggestion would be early spells she would learn. She would be much less likely to be at the forefront of battles, instead hanging back to confuse or charm opponents. She does not play an instrument, but instead directs her creative skills towards writing and storytelling.

[the-world-annealing]

Twelve classes to remix and replace the current ones (you know what system I'm talking about)

The Occultist is the most scholarly of the classes; your typical delver into Things Not Meant To Be Known. The mechanical heart of the class is knowledge gathering (this is the guy with all the lore skills) and divinations (with some necromancy and conjuration on the list); combat strategies range from raising legions of undead, to crafting a big golem bodyguard, to summoning fiends: much like 5e's cleric this class derives a lot of its identity from the subclass you pick.

The Conduit is your basic charisma-based arcane blaster, but with constitution elevated to a secondary stat. Energy spells, telekinetic thrusts, light, darkness, your odd bit of summoning or planar travel. Subclasses don't denote origin, but specialization: a trio of conduits whose power derives from an efreet, a devil, and a red dragon might all choose to specialize in pyromancy (giving actual fire-themed utility abilities, as opposed to 'uh spells of this type do more damage') and get their origin represented as a lower-key low-level feature more like the warlock's pact boon.

The Witch specializes in enchantment and nature-flavored magic, with a side order of potion brewing, protective charms, and of course a familiar. All very subtle, with that feel enhanced further by mechanics to suppress verbal and somatic components while casting spells. Intelligence-based, with wisdom secondary. With traditional druid and ranger gone, this is actually the place where all the animal-befriending stuff goes too.

And on the flip side, The Harlequin is all about big, flashy effects. Illusions are this class's bread and butter, but so are shields of force, teleportation, levitation; basically stage magicians as a class, with 'visible, external magic' as their hat. They get all the social skills on their list, as well as some performance-based features (merely casting a visible spell can already count as a 'performance'), and are charisma-primary, but don't get the bard's plethora of enchantments: their skills with people is based in mundane showmanship.

The Priest is the default divine caster with status removal and holy blasting and such, given some more identity via a 'ceremony' mechanic where appropriately god-honoring deeds and rituals get rewarded with minor mechanical boons (with a focus on increasing exploration-pillar utility). The nature domain is fine now that it's not competing as heavily with our druid-replacement, but 'war clerics' were a silly idea eating into conceptual space that paladins filled just fine. Medium armor, maces, crossbows, the deity's favored weapon as part of an effort to make deity choice matter more.

The Vessel is a dexterity-primary wisdom-secondary class that incorporates all those parts of the monk, rogue, barbarian and cleric that no longer have a home class. Lightly armored or even unarmored, reckless damage-focused combat style, limited casting, can grant partial control of their body to a possessing celestial/demon/devil/etc to increase combat prowess. Transformation is largely limited to surface-level features (and glowing eyes, of course) but unlocks a lot of new mental and spiritual abilities as well as heightened pain tolerance (represented as temporary HP). That last thing is good because possessors tend to drive your body as if it's stolen (which, y'know).

The Shifter is the druid except focused on the shapeshifting that makes druids unique, starting with humanoids or animals and eventually escalating to big monsters and strange chimeras. Minimal divine casting, maybe some heals or buffs, but none of this 'master of many forms AND friend to beast and plant AND capable of dropping a tsunami on you' that leaves druids way too broad to properly balance. Explicitly tie the fluff to the natural shapeshifting abilities of things like fey and werewolves, rather than ambiguous 'nature spirits' that no setting ever dares to commit to. Constitution-primary (lack of armor balances out the high HP), wisdom-secondary.

The Sworn is your typical holy warrior type: heavy armor, big god-powered weapon, defender of the weak etc etc I'm not even gonna pretend this is more than a paladin with minor touchups. Vows are more mechanically relevant; I don't want to bring back 3.5's ever-present threat of falling and losing everything, but the binder class from that same edition might be a good place to look for inspiration; small restrictions with small penalties for violating them, but lots of flavor.

The Scoundrel is the rogue, except it no longer needs to accommodate every single martial concept that involves being useful out of combat. Things like lockpicking, browbeating, and sneaking still go here, but if you want to play a detective or manipulative nobleman then this is no longer your best bet. In return, the class gets a more varied array of combat tricks than 'backstab, backstab, cunning action to gain advantage and uhh backstab again'.

The Expert, to make the pitch in a single sentence, is the class that tries to make skills and tools useful inside of combat. Strong intelligence focus, perhaps with the ability to use it for attacks/damage/AC, lots of little skill-related tricks to pull inside and out of combat. Ideally, gets unique uses for skills that other classes can't simply imitate by maxing out their modifier. This is also where characters who are first and foremost defined by their skill at alchemy/crafting/cooking find a place. The closest approximation in an actual edition might be 3.5's classic factotum/exemplar builds?

The Warlord is a solid warrior who also gets attack-granting, clever little positioning-based benefits, and yes, nonmagical inspiration-based healing. Intelligence is a secondary stat alongside charisma, and this class has unique abilities catered to situational analysis (where would I hide a secret entrance to this dungeon? when will that dragon return to its roost? what patron does the barkeep seem most afraid of?). Also some social skills and mounted combat stuff here.

Finally, The Weaponmaster is the game finally admitting you should be allowed to do cool things with a sword. Lots of weapon-specific paths with unique abilities: if you've ever had the thought "I wish I could make a viable whip fighter" or "I wonder if anyone made handaxes work", the weaponmaster presumably has something to offer. Incorporates some of the monk's enlightenment/transcendence seeking, and gets to pull anime nonsense at least on the level of 3.5's warblade and crusader. Gets features that are actually relevant during the social/exploration pillars, but still flavored as weapon mastery.